RedStateVT Summarizes Two Years (Almost) of Obama

In no particular order….

Spreading the wealth, dubious acquaintances, Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, outrageous appointees, Van Jones, bending ethical promises (e.g. Geithner), wasteful stimulus, huge deficits, bowing to foreign leaders, apologizing to other countries, blaming Bush, Biden gaffe, lies about transparency (e.g. health care ), meeting lobbyists at Starbucks, not bipartisan, unemployment grows, snubbing the Dalai Llama, snubbing Israel, betraying Eastern European allies, dithering on Afghanistan surge, not post-racial; most racial, blaming the police (e.g. Cambridge/Gates), lying about the Supreme Court decision on campaign finance at SOTU, cost of health care bill lies exposed, KSM trial venue uproar, Bribegate (Sestak scandal), blaming Bush, losing Massachusetts (also New Jersey and Virginia), elitist, dropping Black Panther voter intimidation case, oil spill response, blame insurance companies, blame financial service companies, blame BP, blame Bush, Biden gaffe, sinking poll numbers, sues Arizona instead of helping with illegal immigration and related violence, no summer recovery, unemployment still high, lots of golf, Democrat scandals (e.g. Rangel, Waters), pandering to Muslims (mosque controversy), Michelle’s five star vacation, blame Republicans, off to Nantucket!

Readers are asked to fill in items that we may have missed.

If You Are A Dem.....

....it's all bad news!

Generally Democrats have been favored by Wall Street, getting 70 percent of donations from the securities and investment sector just 18 months ago. But by the time Congress took up the financial regulations legislation this June, Republicans were getting 68 percent of the donations, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group. (NYT, 8/28/10)

The string of bad news about housing, employment and economic growth has led Democrats to an inescapable conclusion: the economy is not likely to improve in time to help them in the fall elections. (WSJ, 8/28/10)

To show how desperate the left is, (MSNBC Host Chris) Matthews argued for Clinton to be out on the campaign trail … selling values. "I'd sell Democratic values if I were him." Presumably not the vows of chastity, fidelity, honesty and poverty, to name just a few. (Dan Gainor, WSJ, 8/28/10)

Final Thoughts

RedStateVT quotes below the final paragraph of two recent pieces from Washington Post opinion writers. Which one seems off-the-mark and which one spot-on?

The paradox is that a Republican Party in the grips of ideology needs to shift the campaign in a less ideological direction, hoping that voters simply cast protest ballots against hard economic times. Democrats, who are more doctrinally diverse, have every interest in turning the election into a philosophical contest, arguing that even unhappy voters cannot trust their fate to a party in the grips of a right-wing revolt. Once again on Tuesday, Republican primary participants seemed determined to give Democrats that opportunity. (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 8/26/10)


The Democrats are going to get beaten badly in November. Not just because the economy is ailing. And not just because Obama over-read his mandate in governing too far left. But because a comeuppance is due the arrogant elites whose undisguised contempt for the great unwashed prevents them from conceding a modicum of serious thought to those who dare oppose them. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 8/27/10)

Self-Inflicted
Politically, President Obama's defense of the mosque and his efforts to make it a First Amendment issue are incredibly self-destructive. They raise questions about his political sanity. It is hard to believe how tone deaf he must have become to take such a position. He has now embraced two positions that are anathema to two-thirds of all Americans -- the mosque and opposition to Arizona's immigration law. Neither was a controversy that sought him out. He waded into each one voluntarily with flags flying. He had no role in the Arizona law but his lawsuit to invalidate it made it his fight. He does not sit on the New York City Planning Commission, but his endorsement of the mosque puts him squarely in the center of controversy. What is he using for brains these days? (Dick Morris, 8/18/10)

Pretty Funny!

Not So Obvious
The evidence is overwhelming that the Obama stimulus saved millions of jobs, but the economy is still the worst we've seen since the Depression, and there are almost no signs that it's going to get better. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 8/18/10)

But if millions of jobs were saved, why is that………..oh, never mind!

Liberal Advice

What the current right has on offer is far worse than anything Bush put forward, which means that this election isn't even about whether we'll go back into the ditch. It's about whether a movement that's gone over a cliff will be rewarded for doing so. A victory for this style of conservatism will be a defeat for the kind of conservatism the country needs. (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 8/23/10)

Our friend E. J. is very very worried about the state of conservatism. Thanks for your concern, E.J. We are just fine.


In short, the proposed community center is not just an issue on which Sarah Palin and Osama bin Laden agree. It is also one in which opponents of the center are playing into the hands of Al Qaeda. (Nicholas D. Kristof, NYT, 8/21/10)

The liberal narrative on the Ground Zero mosque is now evolving this way. If you are against the mosque, then you are with….bin Laden. And by the way, it’s not really a mosque; it’s an interfaith community center.

We wonder if Jews are welcome…..

If Only

Conspiracy Theory
A Republican aide ridiculed Pelosi's claim that there was a "conspiracy" to oppose the project. "If the speaker needs help finding the heart of the 'GOP GZM Conspiracy,' I urge her to ask Sasquatch," the aide told Fox News. "His office is behind the black helicopter hangar between the unicorn pen and the leprechaun's pot of gold." (FoxNews.com, 8/18/10)

We’ve got to find out who this aide is and promote him. He’s a helluva lot funnier than Al Franken ever was.

Obsessed With Sarah
It's been a summer of setbacks for Sarah Palin. Candidate "cubs" endorsed by the Mama Grizzly in Chief have been suffering a recent string of primary election losses. (Associated Press, 8/19/10)

Of course, Palin’s record is still better than that of Obama and unlike Obama, candidates don’t flee when she shows up.

By George
Iran is a third waiting game. The administration has admirably tried to remember that it's operating in a carpet bazaar here -- and patiently offer a mix of negotiations with economic sanctions. (I like diplomatic ambiguity, so I think this sometimes confusing stop-go approach is about right.) (David Ignatius, Washington Post, 8/19/10)

David Ignoramus apparently is happy with Obama’s Iran strategy. Of course, Obama’s approach is insulting to the word “strategy.” As usual, we have to turn to George Will.

Any Israeli self-defense anywhere is automatically judged "disproportionate." Israel knows this as it watches Iran. (George Will, Washington Post, 8/19/10)

The creation of Israel did not involve the destruction of a Palestinian state, there having been no such state since the Romans arrived. And if the Jewish percentage of the world's population were today what it was when the Romans ruled Palestine, there would be 200 million Jews. After a uniquely hazardous passage through two millennia without a homeland, there are 13 million Jews.

In the 62 years since this homeland was founded on one-sixth of 1 percent of the land of what is carelessly and inaccurately called "the Arab world," Israelis have never known an hour of real peace. Patronizing American lectures on the reality of risks and the desirableness of peace, which once were merely fatuous, are now obscene. (George Will, Washington Post, 8/19/10)

Once again the conservative columnist does his homework and presents a fact-based analysis while the liberal writes about “feelings.”

RedStateVT Comes Clean

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is suggesting a coordinated effort is behind the opposition to a proposed mosque and community center near Ground Zero, saying the whole dispute has been "ginned up" for political purposes and she supports a probe into those opponents. (FoxNews.com, 8/18/10)

In a statement just released, RedStateVT announced today that it is part of the coordinated effort to oppose the Ground Zero mosque.

Of Mosques and Men

1) In supporting the building of a mosque in lower Manhattan. President Obama puts the interests of Muslims ahead of those of Americans.

2) Obama comes out in favor of the Ground Zero mosque in front of a group of Muslims and later walks it back in front of American cameras. This is exactly the same thing that Yasir Arafat used to do and is a principal reason why he could not be trusted.

3) As long as Muslims continue to allow mosques to function as recruiting grounds for terrorists, Americans will continue to oppose them.

4) When Harry Reid comes out against the mosque, you know you have staked out the wrong position.

5) Pop Quiz: Anyone know how many synagogues and Catholic churches are currently under construction in Saudi Arabia? Our guess is zero.

6) Where are the moderate Muslims?

The Palin Obsession Continues
Emily's List 'Mama Grizzlies' attack Sarah Palin (Washington Post Headline, 8/17/10)

Loved this WaPo headline which seemingly describes conservative women coming out against Sarah Palin. Only the women are abortion advocates!

Follow the Money
Murdoch's News Corp. has made a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association, triggering swift criticism from Democrats that a contribution of that magnitude casts a shadow on his media properties, particularly Fox News. (Washington Post, 8/17/10)

Meanwhile, still no word on whether Obama will return the money he received from Goldman Sachs and BP.

First Tom DeLay is Cleared, Now This!
The interrogation of Ramzi Binalshibh, a key figure in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was recorded several times while he was being questioned in Morocco by local intelligence officers, according to a U.S. official…."The tapes, which were made and found years ago, show a guy sitting at a desk answering questions," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of ongoing investigations. (Washington Post, 8/17/10)

The CIA refused to answer whether or not Binalshibh had been given a cushy chair.

All About Harry

Guess what: It happens to be true that Reid did introduce such a bill. And it was indefensible. But here's the thing: I've learned that Reid already apologized profusely for this in a speech in 2006, admitted he was wrong, and described this as the "low point" of his career. In other words, Reid himself agrees that it was indefensible. (Greg Sargent, Washington Post, 8/14/10)

Amazing……it turns out Harry was against birthright residency before he was for it!


The latest to weigh in: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), who is battling to keep his seat in Nevada. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Jim Manley, Reid came out against the building of the Islamic center. "The First Amendment protects freedom of religion," Manley wrote in an e-mail. "Senator Reid respects that, but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else." (Washington Post, 8/16/10)

But will Harry be against the mosque before he is for it?


As First Reported By RedStateVT
President Obama's seemingly conflicting responses over the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero demonstrate another example of the tone-deaf nature of the White House, politicians on both sides of the aisle are suggesting as the remark raises the prospect of another sticky election issue for lawmakers this November. (Foxnews.com, 8/15/10)

Meanwhile Obama just can’t make up his mind on the mosque.

Who Said It?

RedStateVT's Signature Feature!

"Obama got elected because of the clarity of his campaign and his speeches. But, surprisingly, he’s in some ways an incoherent president. He’s with the banks, he’s against the banks. He’s leaving Afghanistan, he’s staying in Afghanistan. He strains at being a populist, but his head is in the clouds."

A) Bill O’Reilly
B) Charles Krauthammer
C) George Will
D) RedStateVT
E) Liberal New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd



If you guessed E) you are today’s winner!

(New York Times, 8/14/10)

The Tone Deaf Obamas

Barack
A CNN/Opinion Research poll released this week found that nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the mosque plan while just 29 percent approved. (Foxnews.com, 8/14/10)

In his continuing quest to be liked by Muslims (and fresh off thanking them for their contributions to space exploration), President Obama does the predictable and comes out in favor of the Ground Zero mosque. This is what he could have said:

“While we have a long and proud tradition of religious freedom in America and while the building of a mosque in lower Manhattan is entirely legal, I would call upon Muslims to consider the sensitivities of those who lost loved ones on September 11th and relocate the mosque to another site.”

Michelle
Michelle Obama violated one of this city’s most sacrosanct unwritten rules when she went to Spain — during a recession, no less — with her daughter and a few friends. Even during good economic times, top government officials tend to stick to the red, white and blue. (NYT, 8/14/10)

Oddballs vs. Criminals

The Republican Party's candidate for governor of Colorado believes that bicycle paths are "part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty." The party's Senate candidate in Nevada wants to privatize Medicare and Social Security -- and has called for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations, though not because of the bicycle conspiracy. And the GOP’s Senate candidate in Connecticut once climbed into a professional wrestling ring and kicked a man in the crotch. (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 8/13/10)

So Robinson considers several Republican candidates to be odd. It’s a strange charge from the party that gave us Al Franken. But, OK, let’s take a look at several other Democrats. How about Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and Alvin Greene just to name three? The first two are buried under a mountain of charges related to ethics violations. And who is Democrat Greene you ask? He’s this gem:

The Associated Press reports that longshot U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene has been indicted on a felony charge of showing pornography to a South Carolina college student. (Washington Post, 8/13/10)

So thanks again, Mr. Robinson, for the (reliably) dishonest reporting.


Teutonic Sense
This from an article announcing 9% annualized economic growth in Germany:

During the recession, Chancellor Angela Merkel resisted the palliative of government spending that the United States and some European partners felt was crucial to restoring growth. (NYT, 8/13/10)

Great and Not So Great

By Contrast
Big as Reagan's mandate was, in two elections, the man was never bigger than his country. There was never narcissism or a bloated sense of personal destiny in him. He gloried in the country, and drew sustenance from its heroic deeds and its capacity for recovery. No political class rode with him to power anxious to lay its hands on the nation's treasure, eager to supplant the forces of the market with its own economic preferences. (Fouad Ajami, WSJ, 8/12/10)

Dirty Harry
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking heat after he told a crowd of supporters Tuesday that he doesn’t know "how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican."
(Foxnews.com, 8/12/10)

One of the most egregious Democrat lies is that the Republican party is comprised entirely of white males…often further portrayed as white males looking to preserve their hegemony over America. No matter how much evidence to the contrary (J.C. Watts, Sarah Palin, Condi Rice, Alberto Gonzalez, Marc Rubio, etc.), Democrats just keep repeating the lie. This, of course, fits in with their belief system that all minorities should be Democrats. Why? Because in their hearts Democrats believe that minorities are like poor disadvantaged children that need the protection and largesse that only the Democrat party provides. It is an insulting belief system.

Voters Be Damned!
Just a week after ruling that Proposition 8 - a 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage – was unconstitutional, Judge Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge of the Federal District Court of the Northern District of California, lifted a stay on his decision, opening the door for untold numbers of gay couples to marry in the nation's most populous state. But he delayed implementation of the order to lift his stay until Aug. 18. (NYTdirect.com, 8/12/10)

In one of those unbelievable coincidences, a gay judge rules in favor…of gay marriage.

Reflections

Straw Dogs
Labeled antibusiness by Republicans and some corporate chiefs, President Barack Obama mounted a campaign to show he wasn't. But his charm offensive has hit a rocky patch.
Business leaders gripe about burdensome new financial and health care regulations, what they see as unfriendly tax policies and vast government spending. They were put off by Obama's harsh depiction of "fat cat bankers" and "reckless practices," a label he applied both to Wall Street and to oil-spill giant BP. (AP, 8/9/10)

This is so Obama. He names the bogeyman, kicks it around, and then wants to be friends. He did the same thing to Republicans and they didn’t fall for it either. Then he whines that everyone else is so partisan.

No Talking
I've reached the point where I'd abolish the Senate if I could. It is more profoundly undemocratic than it was when the Founders created it and less genuinely deliberative -- problems compounded by a Republican minority's strategy of delay and obstruction. (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 8/9/10)

Someone take away E.J.’s crayon for heaven’s sake. This is the true mind – and insanity – of the modern liberal. They have no real love for democracy. It slows things down and gets in the way of their grand visions. If only E.J. or Obama had absolute power, everything could be straightened out and the country would be fine. It explains why liberals are so enthralled with leftist dictators like Fidel Castro. And liberals never delay or obstruct, only Republicans. It is so naive that it makes the brain hurt.

College Daze
According to this woman, who requested anonymity because of her current job as a clinical psychologist, "He (Rand Paul) and Randy came to my house, they knocked on my door, and then they blindfolded me, tied me up, and put me in their car. They took me to their apartment and tried to force me to take bong hits. (Washington Post, 8/9/10)

So this is what it has come to, we are going to start digging up every dumb frat stunt that someone did in college. By the way, in college Al Gore was a notorious stoner……

Love Your Actuary

This year's report, issued last week, has more than the usual political meaning because Democrats are hailing it as validation of their claims that ObamaCare will save taxpayers money. The trustee report shows "how the Affordable Care Act is helping to reduce costs and make Medicare stronger," the White House said in a statement.

One problem: That spin ignores the extraordinary companion analysis by chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster that repudiates this conclusion and is the most damning fiscal indictment to date of the Affordable Care Act. (WSJ, 8/8/10)

RedStateVT knows many actuaries and counts them among the best and brightest business people. Another thing about actuaries: they are incapable of lying.


Dealing with the Problem
The authorities in Hamburg said Monday that they had shut down the mosque there where several of the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks had met because it remained a source of radicalization nearly a decade later. (NYT, 8/9/10)

Looks like the Germans have dealt with their mosque problem!

Flawed Strategery

In interviews, mailings and television ads, Democratic candidates are once again hauling out the specter of the former president to use as a foil. Nearly two years after he left office and virtually disappeared from public view, Bush -- his image, his policies, his legacy -- are being dragged back into the public arena. (Washington Post, 8/6/10)

Seems to us this strategy is a loser for Dems in two possible ways. (Hence, we love it!) First, some of the folks are going to ask – heck, they are already asking - when Obama and the Dems are going to take responsibility. You own it, stop blaming everyone else. Other folks are going to get sentimental and nostalgic for the good old days when George Bush was president. History will treat him more kindly and that is going to start sooner rather than later. So, by all means, go ahead and invoke W!


If Only
This is Biden's response to American economic anxiety: If Democrats had even greater control in Washington -- even larger influence than holding the presidency and both houses of Congress -- they would have spent more than $862 billion on the stimulus. Rather than allaying the fiscal concerns of independents, Biden is actively feeding these fears -- thereby making the case for the moderating effects of divided government. (Michael Gerson, Washington Post , 8/5/10)

Tell Your Friends

Thanks for the Help
In his sixteen paragraph statement on the arrest of a Somali Muslim terror cell Attorney General Eric Holder devoted three paragraphs to praising Muslims in the U.S. including:

Members of the American Muslim community have been – and continue to be – strong partners in fighting this emerging threat. They have regularly denounced terrorist acts and those who carry them out. And they have provided critical assistance to law enforcement in helping to disrupt terrorist plots and combat radicalization.

We hope that Holder is sincere and not simply offering more excuses for Islamic extremism. Frankly we have not seen much in the way of Muslim outrage over the actions of the jihadists.

Owned by Oil
…(Obama) will spend the next three months until midterm Congressional elections trying to deflect questions about his administration’s effectiveness by turning them into questions about his critics’ coziness with the oil industry. (NYT, 8/6/10)

And who could be cozier than Obama who was the largest recipient of BP money?

Showed Them
The political revolt against ObamaCare came to Missouri Tuesday, with voters casting ballots three to one against the plan in its first direct referendum. This is another resounding health-care rebuke to the White House and Democrats, not that overwhelming public opposition to this expansion of government power ever deterred them before. (WSJ, 8/5/10)

Kudos to the Show Me State!

In A Word

Vindicated
The United Nations peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, Unifil, said on Wednesday it had concluded that Israeli forces were cutting trees that lay within their own territory before a lethal exchange of fire with Lebanese Army troops on Tuesday, largely vindicating Israel’s account of how the fighting started. (NYT, 8/4/10)

Count RedStateVT as shocked by this one. The UN – coddlers of dictators and terrorists – finds in favor of the Middle East’s only democracy.

Incredible
"There is no credible argument to be made that the purpose of government is to borrow from future generations of Americans to finance an extension of tax cuts for the top 2 percent," Geithner said., saying such a move would amount to "a $700 billion fiscal mistake." (Washington Post, 8/5/10)

Funny Geithner should use these words. Some would say that Obama’s stimulus plan borrowed from future generations of Americans and was a $787 billion fiscal mistake!

Madness
Last night Bill O’Reilly interviewed an ACLU lawyer on the subject of the military’s predator drone attacks on Al Qaeda. The transcript of the interview is not yet up on O’Reilly’s website, but look for it if you want to see just how unhinged the ACLU has become.

Out of Respect

In a Washington Post column yesterday, Richard Cohen goes after Newt Gingrich and others who object to the construction of a mosque a few blocks away from Ground Zero in New York City. Cohen says:

Unfortunately, the site is a mere two blocks from Ground Zero and, as some people insist, this could cause discomfort to those who lost loved ones there. (WP, 8/3/10)

Well yes, there could be some “discomfort” as Cohen so delicately describes it. Notwithstanding, he is in favor of the mosque as is – not surprisingly – the New York Times editorial page. (Of course, both use it as a further opportunity to demagogue Republicans.) So let’s ask Mr. Cohen and the Times another question. How do you feel about a southern state flying the Confederate flag? Sure it might cause discomfort to some, but shouldn’t you be open-minded and respect the rights of those southerners to whom it is a symbol not of prejudice, but of regional pride? RedStateVT suspects that you might object. Does that make you hypocrites?

Dorothy Rabinowitz – one of the most articulate writers on 9/11 issues hits the political correctness target (because that is what this is) right between the eyes:

Here was an idea we have been hearing more and more of lately—the need to show the world America's devotion to democracy and justice, also cited by the administration as a reason to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City. Who is it, we can only wonder, that requires these proofs? What occasions these regular brayings on the need to show the world the United States is a free nation? (WSJ, 8/3/10)

There are certain things that should not be done – not necessarily because they are illegal, but because they are patently offensive. Rabinowitz again:

... how is it that the planners, who have presented this effort as a grand design for the advancement of healing and interfaith understanding, have refused all consideration of the impact such a center will have near Ground Zero? Why have they insisted, despite intense resistance, on making the center an assertive presence in this place of haunted memory? (WSJ, 8/3/10)

Democrats and Taxes

Howard Metzenbaum, the former Ohio senator and liberal supporter of the death tax, chose to change his official residence to Florida just before he died because Florida does not have an estate tax while Ohio does. (Arthur Laffer, WSJ, 8/2/10)

In fact, the bill went down for lack of Democratic votes, in particular those from Midwest coal and manufacturing states. Voters in those states have figured out that cap and tax is a redistributionist exercise from the carbon-dependent heartland to the richer coasts. A Democrat—Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia—is also leading the charge to repeal the EPA's climate "endangerment" regulation that imposes cap and trade though the backdoor. (WSJ, 8/2/10)

Of course, other notable Democrats who do not like taxes - that is, paying them personally - include Tim Geithner, John Kerry and Charles Rangel.

Here's the Reason

But for months Republicans have also been arguing that the chief threat to the economy is our gargantuan debt and deficit. That's what's scaring consumers, creditors and businesses. Yet given a chance to address those fears by getting serious about deficit reduction, they run away. (Fareed Zakaria, Wasington Post, 8/2/10)

For RedStateVT, the issue of taxes comes down to the issue of trust. Put simply, we have minimal trust in the politicians who make the decisions on how to spend the money entrusted to them. We believe that they stand a better chance of making good decisions if they are given fewer dollars. The long track record of “bridges to nowhere” and other pet projects of politicians makes the case. Zakaria is naive to think that given billions of dollars of additional tax revenues, Democrats would use the money to pay down the deficit.


Late Again
It turns out it will take weeks longer to select, screen and train the 1,200 National Guard troops the Obama administration had said would be deployed on Aug. 1 along the border from California to Texas. (NYT, 8/2/10)

Is RedStateVT the only major media outlet to notice that the Obama administration can’t seem to meet a deadline? Even when they set the timetable, there always seems to be an excuse as to why they need an extension.

Speaks For Itself

Loopy Loop
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's "out of the loop" in the House ethics committee's investigation of fellow Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel. (AP, 8/1/10)

Pretend You Don’t Know Me
As lunch was served in the Roosevelt Room of the White House one day last week, President Obama assured the nine Democratic members of Congress sitting around the table that he would do anything he could to help them survive their fall elections. Even, he said, if it meant staying away. (NYT, 7/31/10)